


Beginnings- An UrSkek Story

by Charms7116



Series: My Dark Crystal AU [1]
Category: The Dark Crystal (1982), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: Dark Crystal AU, Dark Crystal OC, Durnazshar, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Gen, Incomplete, Jim Henson - Freeform, SilSol - Freeform, SkekDurn, Skeksis - Freeform, Skektael, SoSu - Freeform, Taelion, UrAzshar, UrIon, UrSol - Freeform, UrSu - Freeform, Urskeks, skeksil - Freeform, skekso - Freeform, urRu - Freeform, urSkek - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:48:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26026714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charms7116/pseuds/Charms7116
Summary: I've been authoring stories taken in my Dark Crystal AU for ages, so here's the first one in the series, it is taken before the UrSkeks even went to Thra and is taken on the UrSkek Home world . It is about My UrSkek OC Durnazshar  who asks his mentor SilSol for some help
Series: My Dark Crystal AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1889185
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

“Very good Durnazshar,” SilSol said to the young UrSkek “raw talent like yours is rare!”  
  
“You really think so, Master SilSol?” the young UrSkek asked.  
  
“Yes,” said Silsol “given time and practice you will be as good a musician as I am, or close to it, you have a natural talent for music”.  
  
“I do?” he asked, “I’m just an orphan”.  
  
SilSol smiled gently “been orphaned is indeed a rare occurrence amongst our kind, but you are gifted, more than _gifted_ in fact!”  
  
“Yes he’s been keeping me up all night,” said another young UrSkek sitting in the window seat and who had been looking out over the crystalline spires of their city, glinting with the light and the Power of the Great Crystal.  
  
The same light and power that affected them all, he was equally as young as the one at the instrument, his eyes glinted pale green in some lights.  
  
“I’m sorry, Taelion,” said the young UrSkek.  
  
“I can understand why,” he said “you have been working really hard on that piece, you are a _hard_ taskmaster Master SilSol!” although, there was genuine fondness and respect under his words, he enjoyed their informal lessons with Master SilSol he didn’t have DurnaAzshar’s Talent of course been of a more practical nature, but, the Master Musician had not taken him on as well as DurnAzshar as his students for no reason Master SilSol never did _anything _without reason.  
  
“Magic…it speaks to you, doesn’t it Durnazshar?” said SilSol “you hear it everywhere you go, in your heart and you can use it in the way most of us cannot”.  
  
“I…” said Durnazshar, suddenly shy and wary “I’m told to keep _**that**_ quiet! That I can do things…like this…” and a small white flame appeared in his hand by humming “but Master SilSol, I can feel it _flowing_ inside of me! Wanting to be used! It is like…. Liquid  
Fire! I can’t _**NOT**_ use it! and yet I do not understand what it is or WHY I can do it!”  
  
“How do you _feel_ when you use it?” SilSol asked.  
  
“It feels right! It’s like music for you, Master SilSol! It sings to me, deep inside, like Fire! I cannot describe it.”  
  
“Which is why you must learn to use it then Durnazshar! Through your music, but be wary of how you do so” he said “it is inside of you, it is part of you, music and this…magic it is in your soul, it is your gift Durnazshar, but like me, you must learn to contain  
it within your other gift, music” he nodded “ what else can you do with that?”  
  
“This!” he said, and a small bolt of flame rose from both his clasped hands “ and more, I can make things move on their own, I can understand the language of the birds, and the animals and I can control plants, I can create a small ball of electricity, shoot   
small energy bolts, I can help things heal…. But it is getting stronger and stronger and harder to hide…it _scares_ me! Because I **know** , it makes me ‘different’ what is it Master SilSol, and why can I do it? And noone else can? Well, not like I can!”  
  
“You have a gift Durnazshar, one quite unlike the rest of us, which is why you must _learn_ to control it,” said SilSol “it could be seen as a dangerous power”.  
  
Durnazshar said, “I barely understand it, Master SilSol”.  
  
“You have to learn to control it then,” said SilSol “I will try to help you, and I know someone who might be able to give you some advice…. Someone who has helped me.”  
  
“Who?” Durnazshar asked  
  
“A friend and an old teacher of mine, _SoSu_ , I have been wary of taking you to meet him, until I was sure you were both ready to do so, I feel he can help you both, especially you DurnAzshar, he helped me when I was in a similar position, not fully  
understanding my own talents, but promise me this, we keep this amongst _ourselves_ for now”.  
  
“Why?” Taelion asked.  
  
“Just promise me you will…especially considering who your father is,” said SilSol to Taelion.  
  
“My Father…he’s just a minor Councilmember, noone important” Taelion said.  
  
His father and DurnaAzshar’s foster father was on the Council, although, Taelion had always wondered why he had taken in the orphaned Durnazshar, as Master SilSol said been an orphan was practically an unknown occurrence amongst their people!  
  
“I am _asking_ you both to come with me tonight, I want to introduce you to SoSu and to hear what he has to say……I will inform your parent and your Guardian if you agree to accompany me, that I have arranged to take you both to a lecture that I think you both should hear, I _am_ your teacher after all, and you are my students, but only if you agree to accompany me, this must be done on your own volition, you are both considered old enough to start making your own decisions” as they were both in what was  
considered amongst their kind, _adolescence_.   
  
Taelion looked at his adopted brother and then said: “ I will accompany you, Master SilSol, you have me curious, what about you, DurnAzshar?”  
  
DurnAzshar paused and had a think about it, he was of a more introspective nature than his adopted brother and best friend, he looked at Master SilSol “ are you **_sure_** it isn’t well… _illegal_?”  
  
“No it isn’t, although it might be considered so by some, the question I am asking you DurnAzshar here I guess is, do you _trust_ me on this?” SilSol asked.  
  
DurnAzshar looked thoughtful, making light appear in his hands, something he often did when thinking, SilSol had noticed.  
  
He knew the young UrSkek was torn inside about having to hide his unusual gift. But, it was also precisely _why_ he had to learn to temper, control and contain it.  
  
“Very well,” said DurnAzshar.  
  
“Very well, then, meet me outside the Academia transmat about two rotations after school is finished,” he said, “I will inform your Guardian and your parents that you will be with me”.  
  
“Are you sure we are going to be allowed in Master SilSol?” Durnazshar asked as he and Taelion used the crystal transmat to come to one of the many lecture halls in the UrSkek home city.  
  
They were a naturally scholarly race, their lives, controlled by so many academic factors which he had to admit in their deepest parts of their being, he and Taelion often found a little _stifling_! Sometimes he and Taelion just _wanted_ to be **children** again!  
  
They were both now considered too old to be prone to such childish whims, their lives revolved around school and learning the rules and regulations of society and preparing for adulthood and their future roles in society, their people believed that One was   
all and all was One.   
  
But sometimes they just both _wanted_ to look at the stars! To _explore_ , outside the city, to _climb_ a tree! To get _dirty_!  
  
“Yes” added Taelion “I mean, isn’t this against the rules, kind of?”  
  
SilSol said “ maybe it is, but I want you both to meet SoSu and other likeminded individuals, you both feel the same way I do, I have observed you both and have come to this conclusion, and I am sure he can help you tamper that wild, magical talent that you  
have inside of you Durnazshar. You could do so much good with it! but you need to learn _control_ of it, else you will be considered dangerous, and you had more bad luck than any one of your tender years should….losing your parents like that..”.  
  
“How?” Durnazshar asked, curious at his last comment, did SilSol _know_ what had happened to his parents?  
  
“ ** _SoSu_** … that name sounds familiar,” Taelion said then “wasn’t he a Professor or something at one of the colleges who was stripped of his rank and title and everything else and then cast out? Because of something he said or wrote? I remember my father  
mentioning him”.  
  
SilSol said “what he says and believes _**isn’t wrong**_ Taelion, he’s one of my oldest and dearest friends! You will understand what I mean when he talks, and no these talks aren’t illegal, it is a public hall”.  
  
Taelion said “well ok, if you believe he can help both Durnazshar and me, I believe you then…although my father, he won’t like this if he finds out about this. Durnazshar isn’t the only one who has well…. _Gifts_ he doesn’t understand, I do too! Only it is not  
so strong! Nor potentially so dangerous, it’s more like well an instinct and a connection to nature I guess”.  
  
“I know you do,” said SilSol.  
  
“What is _wrong_ with us, though, Master SilSol?” Taelion asked, “my parents say it is wrong, that I am wrong, and that they hope I grow out of it”.  
  
“Nothing is WRONG with either of you!” SilSol said, “your just ‘Different’ that’s all…it is not wrong to feel the way you do, but been different it is not such a good thing, it will get you both in trouble eventually, which is why I want you to listen to and talk to   
SoSu, because I am ‘ _Different_ ’ too!”  
  
“ ** _You_**!” said DurnAzshar in surprise “but you’re so well respected! So talented! And so properly, _UrSkek_!”  
  
SilSol said “things were not always so, DurnAzshar, SoSu has been helping me tamper that. I am… _impatient_ by our standards, and there are parts of me that I cannot allow myself to reveal too much or others to see, I too am…’ _different_ ’ here I can be more  
myself” as he led them into the hall “you’ll see”.  
  
“Master SilSol!” said another UrSkek approaching them and took his companions in a glance “is this _wise_? Bringing two _children_ here amongst us?”  
  
“ZokZah they are like us, and I think SoSu can help them before it is too late and they suffer for it, this is ZokZah, ZokZah these are Durnazshar and Taelion they are two of my most gifted students, and I have the right to bring _whoever_ I want! This is what  
SoSu _means_! The ability to make a choice to do so! These two Younglings need to hear SoSu talk! And to be given a chance to make their own decisions!”  
  
“Point” the UrSkek admitted, he looked down again, he was taller than SilSol and had something of an aloof air about him “you’re the **_Orphan_** ,” he said to Durnazshar suddenly.  
  
“Yes,” said Durnazshar.  
  
“Poor lost child,” said ZokZah “maybe your Teacher is right to bring you here, maybe you do need to listen to SoSu”.  
  
“SoSu can _help_ him!” said SilSol “I _know_ this!” as ZokZah looked into Durnazshar’s eyes, making him feel even shyer, his unusual and distinct eye colour had always made him stand out.  
  
“Violet” he mused.  
  
“Only in some circumstances,” said SilSol “it is not usually _obvious_! Due to our inner light, come youngsters I will introduce you to SoSu”.  
  
ZokZah said “ I can tell you now, he will not be happy about this SilSol! they are too young!”  
  
SilSol nodded “I am _aware_ of that” and wandered further into the hall, greeting several others as he went, who in turn greeted him, many fondly, there were others scattered around enjoying some light snacks and drinks and light conversation.  
  
DurnAzshar recognised of all people **_LiLii_**!   
  
He stopped and looked at her in amazement, surprised to see her here, but not really unexpecting it, she wasn’t that much older than he and Taelion and a couple of years ahead at the Academia, she was with her friend YiYa, who was the same age as her.  
  
“Surprised to see _her_ here” Taelion remmarked.  
  
“I’m not.,” said Durnazshar.  
  
“You like LiLii, don’t you?” Taelion asked.  
  
“I….she makes me laugh and is my friend, we have a lot in common, like YiYa is” he replied.  
  
SilSol noticed the exchange and a slow smile crept across his features, LiLii was _also_ a talented musician and storyteller.  
  
He recognised the beginnings of possible attachment when he saw it after so many years teaching at the Academia, despite the slight difference in age.  
  
SilSol said “ her and YiYa have been coming here to listen to SoSu talk for a while,” he said softly.  
  
“She writes the most _beautiful_ poems and stories,” DurnAzshar said, “ but I guess some of them could be classed as _questionable_ …”  
  
“I guess that is why she is here because she did get pulled up over a couple she wrote for a project,” he said, “we all have our reasons why, and she is not that much older than you are, I also teach her music.”   
  
He nodded towards an older, rather dignified looking UrSkek, whose quiet Leadership and apparent wisdom, Durnazshar instantly felt “SoSu…I will introduce you” he led them to him, he was flanked by Master UngIm who was a Healer who taught healing at  
the Academia as well. Durnazshar was one of his students, he was a strict teacher.  
  
He could be quite arrogant, but he knew his subject and liked to challenge his students, Master TekTih the Science Master ( as SilSol was the Music Master and UngIm was the Healing Master) whom both he and Taelion were students of and oddly enough  
MalVa who was one of the Wardens.  
  
“Professor SoSu!” said Taelion his voice low “now I remember what my father was telling me about him”.  
  
“What?” Durnazshar asked, feeling drawn to SoSu for some reason.  
  
“He was really high up until he took the Fall, due to his ideas and theories,” said Taelion.  
  
“What is _**SO**_ bad about them?” Durnazshar asked.  
  
“I don’t really know,” said Taelion “ only that and that Dad said he was a bad influence”.  
  
DurnAzshar nodded “very well”.  
  
SilSol led them up to SoSu and said: “ SoSu I want you to meet someone”.  
  
SoSu turned to SilSol and regarded the two younglings with SilSol, both of them barely out of childhood and said: “I hope this isn’t what it _looks_ like SilSol”.  
  
SilSol said, “I feel that you can help them both… like you helped me and so many others to find their balance, this is DurnAzshar and his friend and adopted brother Taelion, they are two of my most gifted students, and I think you can help them both”.  
  
SoSu said “ they are still **_children_**! I do not feel _comfortable_ with this SilSol! They are too young!”.  
  
“YiYa and LiLii aren’t much older than they are” SilSol reminded him mildly.  
  
“And I am not comfortable with them been here as well, you know that! But it would go against all that I am trying to do here to **_not_** let them come”.  
  
SilSol continued “Durnazshar has gifts he doesn’t fully understand, and it is causing an imbalance inside of him! And Taelion does too, to a certain extent, I believe that you can help them!”  
  
SoSu sighed and said, “this could end badly”.  
  
SilSol said “they are like _us_! SoSu, trust me on this one!”  
  
SoSu looked at them both and said, “it is risky and are they here on their own volition?”  
  
SilSol said “you know I would not have bought them here, amongst us If they weren’t, and if I didn’t think it through. They trust me SoSu and agreed to accompany me, show him DurnAzshar, show him what you can do and why I believe SoSu, that you can  
help him, what harm can it do for them to at least _listen_ to you?”.  
  
Durnazshar looked at him a little worried “ are you sure about this Master SilSol? Like I said, I have been told to keep this secret”.  
  
“And it is tearing you up inside, so show him what you can do,” said SilSol.  
  
Durnazshar nodded and hummed a little and a small white flame appeared in his small hands, small and slight he had always been, not sickly though, just small and finely built.  
  
SoSu’s eyes widened “ _child_! How long have you been able to do that?”  
  
“All my life, Master SoSu, but it is getting stronger and harder to hide and to control, it is like a liquid fire inside of me, it calls to me, sings to me, and it is tearing me apart inside, I am afraid that I will not be able to control it soon nor hide it!” he looked up  
and SoSu noticed that under his normal light his eyes were pale and very obviously violet, they also had a slight slant.  
  
“Oh my! It is **_you_**!” SoSu said.  
  
“Pardon?” Durnazshar asked, and they all looked at him, he lowered his eyes in embarrassment.  
  
SoSu said, “ **YOU’RE** the Orphan!”  
  
“Pardon?” he repeated.  
  
SoSu looked at him “ you’re a _Child of Misfortune_ Durnazshar!”

“Pardon?” he repeated, bewildered now.  
  
“Your parents, they both paid for their folly and for ours, for experimenting with something we probably never should have _tried_ ,” said SoSu.  
  
“Err…you _knew_ my parents?” Durnazshar asked.  
  
“Not knew them, know of them,” said SoSu “ you poor lost, confused child, no _wonder_ you are so afraid of been found out,” he said softly “, and you have a strange gift that you barely know how to use as a result don’t you” he took Durnazshar’s small hands  
in his own, long-fingered, five-fingered and golden-skinned like the rest of them, the youth was clearly UrSkek, but, there was a hint of something else there “ SilSol was right to bring you to us”.  
  
“I was hoping you could help him,” said SilSol “ he has a talent and a gift that he barely knows how to control”.  
  
SoSu said, “he is a _child of misfortune_ , and probably never should have happened”.  
  
SilSol said, “ how do you know this, though?”  
  
“It was mentioned, in a text,” said SoSu, “ noone thought the child had survived.”  
  
“Durnazshar has been a part of my family for years,” said Taelion “ as long as I can remember, he is my brother, although we are the same age”.  
  
SoSu said, “I apologise SilSol, I should learn to trust you more, maybe I can indeed help you DurnAzshar”.  
  
“So what are you doing here then?” Taelion asked then “inciting or starting a rebellion?”  
  
“ ** _No_**!” said SoSu sounding shocked and looking sharply at the young UrSkek “I would **never** do that! Our world, our very lives, rely on **_Balance_**! I am simply trying to change how people think, how to perceive things differently, that it’s alright to be ‘ _different_ ’   
our people they are slowly stagnating as a race, we are too complacent, to passive, too afraid of change, all of those who are here, share a similar view, it is _alright_ to be an individual! That is not **_Division_** it merely is learning to think differently, and those of  
us who feel that way, shouldn’t have to live in fear! It is alright to _feel_ anger, to _feel_ pain! To _feel_ sorrow! To make our own choices and our own decisions to do so! That is what I am _trying_ to do! Help change the way people **_think_** , not trying to start a  
revolution!”  
  
“Sure sounds like one!” Taelion said “I _agree_! And I’m with you….DurnAzshar and I we are ‘ _different_ ’ as you say, and he has a gift he can barely control you can see why!”  
  
SilSol said, “ forgive Taelion, SoSu, he is young, and he is always restless, but he has a good heart”.  
  
“It is still a risk SilSol,” said SoSu “ but you are one of my oldest friends and biggest supporters and have been from the start, and you do not do things without reason if you believe I can help your two young friends, then maybe you are right, and I can but   
try, come younglings, sit up the front with SilSol tonight and _listen_ ” he smiled kindly then at them both “ but _please_ make your own judgements on what you hear and make your own decisions as that is a large part of what this is all about!” and led them into  
the Tower.  
  
  



	2. And Still, they Go.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Chapter of my Pre Thra, Pre-Division story involving my two OC's Durnazshar and Taelion.

“Confound it!” Taelion heard his adopted brother and his best friend, Durnazshar, say, and a white light shot across the yard and hit one of the Crystalmir roses, making it snap.  
  
Taelion winced at the crystalline noise it made, his mother, a Botanist, would be most upset with Durnazshar, considering, how quietly proud, she was, of the delicate pink colour that she had managed to coax into that _particular_ rose bush.  
  
The young UrSkek sighed, and his equally as young adopted brother and friend, both looked in dismay at the broken rose, and then at his friend with an expression of distress.  
  
“Think you can fix it?” he asked him.  
  
“I can try,” said Durnazshar.  
  
“ _Mother_ is going to be **_most_** distressed” he remmarked.  
  
“I know” he agreed.  
  
“How many times have I ** _told_** you to practise your magic elsewhere Durnazshar?” Taelion asked, “you **_know_** how Father _feels_ about it!”  
  
Durnazshar sighed and said “where _else_ am I going to practise it? I can’t do it at school because it causes too much disruption! I am told to keep it quiet and to learn to temper it….but as I told Master SilSol that is getting harder to do!” he sighed and sat  
down “I _can’t_! not any longer! I am indeed a ‘ _Child of Misfortune_! I am a disruption, regardless of _what_ I do! There is no place for one such as me in our society it seems! Our lives they rely on Order! And I am, it seems, the embodiment of chaos!”  
  
Taelion shook his head and looked at the broken rose, part of him understood what his friend meant, his own talents, sometimes annoyed him as well even though it would probably never be as potentially dangerous or as destructive as Durnazshar’s was or  
could be.  
  
Cartography and Mapmaking were what he was being trained in and for, as that was where his main talents lay, but he also had a rogue ability with nature, probably due to one of his parents been a Botanist.  
  
“let me see if I can at least fix this,” he said looking at the broken Crystalmir rose in dismay.  
  
“I don’t even think you can,” said Durnazshar softly.  
  
“What **_happened_?”** he asked.  
  
“I was practising those harmonies Master SilSol’s been teaching me and I …lost control” their Mentor and Teacher, renowned musician Master SilSol, had been teaching Durnazshar ways of controlling his odd magical talent with music and trying to find a way  
to balance the two; unfortunately, it didn’t always work!  
  
“Your Woodshaping talent perhaps?” Durnazshar suggested.  
  
“Yes, but it isn’t just Woodshaping,” he said, looking at the rosebush “you were lucky you weren’t doing this in the Greenhouse”.  
  
He looked at the rosebush and started to hum a little and within moments began to fuse the rose back to its stem although he wasn’t sure how long it would last.  
  
“Think she’ll notice?” Durnazshar asked.  
  
“Hopefully not, but if she does hopefully by the time she does, we would have come up with a reasonable explanation as to why it _broke_ in the **first** place! You really need to learn to be more careful!” he sighed “ speaking of harmonies I need you to help me  
with that project we’re doing for Master TekTih’s science class, seeing it’s a fair amount of our marks!”.  
  
They were both not at school today, due to there seemed an intermittent problem with the crystal transmats, so they had been given leave from their educational commitments today.  
  
Although both of them were starting to find that their lives now revolved too much around their educational commitments and related endeavours, seeing they were no longer considered children by the standards of their race.  
  
They were in adolescence, and therefore considered **_old_ **enough to start preparing themselves for their future roles in UrSkek society and were expected to act more like adults.  
  
It was one of the reasons why they were both so fond of Master SilSol’s, one on one more informal music lessons so much, he let them _play_ , he _allowed_ them to experiment!   
  
He set a high standard of course, but he didn’t push them hard, he listened to their ideas.   
  
He encouraged them gently, giving them hints and had taken it on himself to try and help temper, Durnazshar’s wild, magical talent.  
  
He firmly believed that music was meant to flow, not to be forced or tamed, it wasn’t always perfect, but it didn’t _need_ to be! And it was that idea that made him ‘ _different_ ’.  
  
Under Master SilSol’s guidance, Durnazshar was able to use his talent, they weren’t afraid to be themselves around him, he seemed to understand them more than most.  
  
“The Harmonies are all wrong” Taelion complained “could you look at my notes Azshar? You were always better at that sort of thing” he said using the shortened version of his name which they often did when they were alone, seeing that the full version of   
his name also didn’t entirely fit the norm either.  
  
“I _told_ you to let me look at it,” said Durnazshar with a smile as he and Taelion drifted up to their ‘ _playroom_ ’ as it was dubbed, which was theirs alone and it was where they did things like projects and the like.  
  
Their recreational room tended to be full with things like projects though, these days mostly school-related, but also a few of their own, it was also where they kept their books, did their studies and homework.  
  
Where they both just ‘ _hung_ _out_ ’ it was theirs alone.   
  
Taelions parents generally left it to them, except maybe, occasionally came to see how they were coming on with various projects or something, especially Taelions father who was on the council and expected his son to join him there one day.  
  
Durnazshar was adopted, but it was odd for one of their kind to be an orphan.  
  
They were both now considered old enough to start preparing themselves for their future roles in UrSkek society, which was as old as time itself it seemed.   
  
In Taelion’s case it was Cartography, Durnazshar however, it was still uncertain, he guessed it would end up something with music or in the research field, seeing he had a natural talent for it, which is why Master SilSol had taken him on, maybe he’d end up a  
music teacher like Master SilSol, which wasn’t such a bad life, considering.  
  
He didn’t know, orphaned as he was, he often wondered what his future role and place in UrSkek society were, was there even room for one such as he in the community?  
  
Their lives revolved around Balance and Order, everyone had a specific role.  
  
Those that didn’t have any real talent anywhere (and it did happen) ended up as workers, wardens, clerks, librarians, research assistants, that sort of thing, which wasn’t such a bad life considering, although it left little room for expansion or recognition for   
your work.   
  
Still, it was secure, and you basically became a cog in a well-oiled wheel.  
  
“We have little substance” Durnazshar suddenly said.  
  
“Pardon?’ said Taelion drifting up.  
  
“Us, we are mainly beings of light.”  
  
Taelion looked down at himself “ _So_?”  
  
“Substance, I sometimes think we don’t have enough” Durnazshar said.  
  
Taelion chuckled, Azshar said the **_strangest_** things at times!   
  
They were the same age, more or less, but Azshar had always been smaller and slighter than he, but not sickly, just short, and finely built, he always had been.  
  
“Well, what would happen to us if we ended up on a world with a higher gravity rating than this one?” he continued thoughtfully.  
  
“You overthink Master TekTih’s lessons a little too much I think sometimes Durnazshar, they all say he is a little eccentric,” said Taelion.  
  
“No, I am not musing…it is something that Master TekTih and a couple of the others were discussing at one of Professor SoSu’s meetings,” he said.  
  
He and Taelion, much too, it seemed to the dismay of Taelion’s parents had gotten rather heavily and regularly involved in, and attended of late to Professor SoSu’s lectures and meetings, which their teacher and friend Master SilSol had introduced them too.  
  
They often went to the meetings and the gatherings and enjoyed doing so.  
  
Professor SoSu believed in not been afraid to be yourself, to not be frightened of your individuality, to be _**you**_!   
  
There, Durnazshar could practice his wild, magical talent which he was trying to learn to temper and control, and not be told to hide it, especially his illusions which he had gotten quite good at.  
  
One of his best friends, LiLii, could read her poems and stories and not be judged on it but instead get good solid advice and reviews and make everyone laugh and smile with her funny anecdotes and impersonations.  
  
Master SilSol could let go and not be so ‘ _properly UrSkek_ ’ he could be imperfect, he always had believed that music was meant to be felt, to be unfettered, to be slightly imperfect! To come from the _heart_!  
  
He was a renowned musician, but due to his sometimes-questionable approach to music and his beliefs, he had never made it above Music Master at the Academia, he didn’t mind that though, he _enjoyed_ teaching and getting asked sometimes to play at an  
occasional recital and concert.  
  
He said that sometimes his darker side crept in and he wouldn’t be so precise, his compositions would come out less than perfect, but he often said that his less than perfect pieces were his best works.  
  
“ ** _Music is from the heart and the soul_** ” he often said to his students “ ** _not just a_ _group of notes put perfectly together, sometimes it is_ meant **_**to be imperfect! And sometimes that imperfection is what completes it! One of my best pieces I have ever done was** **one I did long ago when I was a little angry!”**_ he’d been told to fix it but never had, he liked the raw tones, the imperfections, he had even fine-tuned it a little over the years!   
  
Anger was considered a darker emotion, a sign of imbalance but, he didn’t care, he even said that particular piece had also managed to elicit an emotional response in an audience sometimes, so as a result it was considered _inappropriate_! And thus he had   
been forbidden to play it publicly.  
  
“It was a conversation he and HakHom were having,” he said, “ they were debating over it and invited people to join them, I am surprised they even listened to _mine_!”  
  
“You overthink,” said Taelion “but could you look over our Science project? All the harmonics seem off… and I am _already_ scoring lower than you are in that class!.... Science it is not my thing… and Master TekTih can be well… _hard_ _to_ _please_ sometimes”.  
  
Durnazshar said “ it is indeed odd that I…the one with the out of control, the wild magical gift is way better at Science than you are! the two, I _understand_ them both oddly enough, and I see the connections, they are not so different, here let me look at it!”  
  
“I appreciate it,” he said he drifted nervously around, a sure sign that he was agitated or nervous, or worried, he wasn’t stupid, but he was of a more practical nature, preferring physical pursuits over metaphysical or theoretical ones, he liked facts rather than  
theories, and maps fascinated him, always restless he always wanted to see what was over the next hill so to speak.  
  
His artistic inclinations ran more towards wood or stone, rather than words, music, and pictures.  
  
In many ways he and Durnazshar were total opposites, they were not brothers by blood, but they were in heart and soul.   
  
However, they often both wondered if, in fact, they were brothers in blood as well or at least half! Seeing Durnazshar was an orphan, his parents unknown, or so it was said.  
  
Yet, for some reason, never apparent to either of them, Taelion’s Father had taken in the orphaned Durnazshar and raised him alongside his son!   
  
So, they often wondered if they were indeed, _brothers_! And that Durnazshar was _indeed_ a child of misfortune and indiscretion?  
  
Had Taelion’s very correctly UrSkek Councilman father done something, very _un-Urskek_? That most wouldn’t even think of! And had Durnazshar been the result? **_Was_** that why his Father had never really risen in the ranks? If so, that would explain a lot of  
things.  
  
UrSkek society ran like a well-oiled cog and had done so that way for thousands of years!   
  
Everyone had a role even if it was just as a worker or a clerk, couples were generally matched according to skills, abilities, and their roles in society, and One was All.  
  
Well, that was generally how it was run like…. Was Durnazshar, however, an exception to the rule? Was he, in fact, his half-brother? And was that why his Father had taken him in and raised him alongside Taelion? Was it because Durnazshar was his Father’s  
illegitimate and unregistered son, his Father’s little mishap? Were they, in fact, _Half-brothers_?  
  
“There!” Durnazshar said, “try it now”.  
  
“Sure?” Taelion asked.  
  
“Yes,” he said.  
  
“Ok,” he said humming and the project lit up and harmonised right and said “thanks!”  
  
“You should have let me handle that from the start Taelion! You have talent with music, but not like I seem too, that is probably my role eventually, been a music teacher like Master SilSol is or a research assistant” Durnazshar said, he then looked up “ _hear_   
that?”  
  
“Hear what?” Taelion asked, looking at his Maths homework, Maths was one thing he excelled at.  
  
“The transmat system is offline” he replied.  
  
“Pardon?” as Durnazshar drifted down, the odd tails of light he had on his back trailing after him, they weren’t part of his robes, they were part of _him_!   
  
They lived across from a Transmat, and both of them were well used to its low hum, it had always been there, throughout their lives.  
  
“The transmat is offline or something,” Durnazshar said.  
  
“It’s been down since this morning it’s why they cancelled school,” said Taelion joining his friend.  
  
“The harmonies are turned off,” said Durnazshar he looked around.  
  
“How we going to get to the meeting then” Taelion sighed, he, like Durnazshar, looked forward to Professor SoSu’s talks and gatherings “guess we could go the long way I guess and walk…”.  
  
“We don’t **_walk_**! We **_float_**!” Durnazshar said with a chuckle “ we _**fly** _almost! That is **_what_** Master TekTih and a couple of the others were debating about! Seeing we are beings of mostly light, how a world with more gravity and without a crystal would affect us.”  
  
Taelion said “point. I guess, never really thought about it, to be honest…” the more esoteric subjects like that bored him, he always liked to have a reasonable explanation for everything.  
  
Durnazshar was the opposite, although he was fond of Science as well.  
  
He enjoyed seeing how magic and Science connected and co-existed and always enthusiastically joined in on such discussions and debates! Especially seeing he had such a rogue talent for magic himself!  
  
“I could probably boost the power somewhat to get it working,” he said, “temporarily at least, I have done it once or twice before!”  
  
“Yes, but we aren’t allowed to well, _fool_ around with council property like that!”  
  
Durnazshar looked around and said “ noone seems to be watching!” and without another word he touched the power box, humming a little and activating his magic.  
  
His hands lit up with magic, as he let loose his bolts of energy, he had pretty much full control of those, it had been one of the first things he had ever discovered, and they were the most well-developed of all his magic.  
  
He could alter their strength and intensity, he could add elemental aspects to them, weave other spells in with them.   
  
However, his control over them wasn’t always perfect due to the wild nature of his gift.  
  
They sometimes got away from him, as what had happened with the rose, he was getting stronger though and learning more control; thus, Taelion often wondered and worried what his friend would be capable of once he managed to fully control his wild  
magic gift, was there even a place in society for someone like Durnazshar?  
  
There was a hum, and a buzz and the transmat lit up “Ok let’s go **_now_**! Seeing I am not sure how long this will hold or how long it will be before anyone _notices_ it!” Durnazshar said, “ Master SilSol is singing tonight and playing his latest piece of music”.  
  
Durnazshar than added a known sequence in and within moments they were transported to another section of the city, the Academic District as they lived in the Government district, seeing Taelions Father was on the council.  
  
“Hope noone saw you do that Durnazshar,” Taelion said worried, he’d gotten in trouble for doing stuff like that before.  
  
“I don’t think so,” he said.  
  
They had not seen the older UrSkek standing on the balcony of their home who had watched them go and slowly shook his head and said “ and _still_ they go” he sighed and continued “Arh _**SoSu**_ , why do you **_insist_** on causing yourself and yours…so much pain?” and then shaking his head he drifted inside the house.  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite what Canon says I have always thought the name LiLii sounded more feminine so in my AU Head canon LiLii ( later known as SkekLi the Satirist and UrLii the Storyteller) SkekLi is the more feminine side of that pairing.   
> UrLii is fine as he is, but SkekLi in my Head cannon is more female and has always been so!


End file.
